Quick Facts
Biography
Christine Marie Nairn (born September 25, 1990) is an American soccer player from Annapolis, Maryland. She is currently a midfielder for Melbourne Victory in the Australian W-League and the Seattle Reign FC of the NWSL. She previously played for the Washington Spirit and numerous youth national teams. She has made two appearances for the United States women's national soccer team.
Early life
Born in Annapolis, Maryland to parents Tommy and Danamarie Nairn, Christine attended Archbishop Spalding High School in Severn, Maryland where she was all-time leader in assists, goals and points from 2004–2007 and was a four-time Parade All-American. Besides excelling in soccer, she played four years of varsity basketball in high school. She was a National Honor Society member and graduated with Dean's List honors.
Nairn was a three-time All-State selection, an NSCAA/adidas All-American from 2005–08, and the Gatorade Maryland State Player of the Year from 2005–07. She was named Player of the Year by the Washington Post and was an NSCAA/adidas All-South Region selection from 2005–2007.
Nairn started playing soccer when she was just four years old competing against her older brothers, Kevin and TJ, in her backyard. After her club coach, Pat Noel, encouraged her to go to an Olympic Development Program (ODP) tryout at age nine, she was accepted in the program. Nairn credits the Maryland ODP program as a very important contributor for her national recognition achievements.
Nairn played club soccer with the Freestate Shooters U-18 team, which won the WAGS Championship and Maryland State Cup in 2004 and the U.S. Club Soccer Championship in 2007. She was also a four-year captain for the Region I Olympic Development Program (ODP) team and won the 2006 Regional ODP National Championship.
In January 2008, during her senior year in high school, Nairn was called up to the United States women's national soccer team and was the youngest member to attend training camp. The same year, Soccer Buzz named her the number three recruit in the country.
Penn State Nittany Lions, 2009–2012
Nairn attended Pennsylvania State University, majoring in Communications. During her freshman year in 2009, she started in all but two games as central midfielder. She scored seven goals and led the team in assists at 10. Nairn recorded three assists in a 4–0 win over then-number 22 Purdue University on November 1 setting a new freshman record and second most in a game. She tallied a point in 10 of 12 games from September 13 to November 1. Nairn earned unanimous All-Big Ten First Team, Big Ten Freshman of the Year and All-Freshman Team honors and was named TopDrawerSoccer.com Rookie of the Year. She was twice named Big Ten Freshman of the Week on October 5 and November 2 and was named to the Hermann Trophy Watch List.
As a sophomore, Nairn scored seven goals and provided six assists for 20 points. She was named to the All-Big Ten First Team and NSCAA All-Great Lakes First Team. She started in all 21 games in central midfield leading the team in shots at 73. She scored the second-fastest goal in Penn State history, a strike 63 seconds into the match at the University of Connecticut on September 5. Nairn notched penalty-kick goals in games against the University of Portland, Michigan State University, and Northwestern University. She was named team MVP and to the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) First-Team All-Star squad.
During her junior year with the Nittany Lions, Nairn started in 24 of 25 matches in attacking midfield. She tallied three goals and 13 assists for 19 points, earning NSCAA All-American Second Team honors for a second straight year. She garnered All-Big Ten and NSCAA All-Great Lake First Team honors for a third straight year. She tallied assists at Pittsburgh, UCF, and Virginia, capping a four-game point streak and assisted game-winners vs. Ohio State and Michigan State. Nairn provided the assist on Penn State's lone goal in the Big Ten Final against Illinois and scored a dramatic 85th-minute game-winner against Army in the NCAA First Round. Nairn also tallied two assists in a 4–1 victory over number 12 Marquette in the NCAA Second Round.
As a senior in 2012, Nairn earned her first ever Big Ten Midfielder of the Year and first team NSCAA All-American honor. She finished her career with the second highest number of all-time assists in program history and doubled her career goal total (second highest in the conference) with 17 goals. She was one of two players in the 2012 College Cup with double-digit goals and assists. Nairn scored an exciting golden goal against Florida State in the national semifinals.
In 2013, Nairn was one of three finalists for the Hermann Trophy coming in second to University of North Carolina midfielder, Crystal Dunn.
Playing career
Club
W-League: Washington Freedom Futures and DC United Women, 2010–11
In 2010, Nairn played for the Washington Freedom Futures in the W-League. In 2011, Nairn signed with D.C. United Women in the W-League. She made four appearances, scoring three goals and providing one assist notching seven points for the season. She scored twice in a game against the New York Magic leading the team to its first win in franchise history.
ASA Chesapeake Charge, 2012
In 2012, she played for the NCAA-compliant semi-professional club, ASA Chesapeake Charge, in WPSL Elite. She played in three games and scored one goal.
Seattle Reign FC, 2013
On January 18, 2013, Nairn was drafted to the Seattle Reign FC as the seventh pick (first round) of the 2013 NWSL Draft. On her signing, Nairn said, "It's a great opportunity, like I said before, to represent Seattle and where I've come from – Penn State, and all the teams I played for before. To represent them on a professional stage is a dream come true. I'm excited to get to work." Nairn scored the first regular season goal for the Reign during the team's first league match against Chicago Red Stars on April 14, 2013 with a diving header on a cross from forward, Liz Bogus. Nairn led the team in assists and was a leading-scorer. She finished the regular season with five assists and three goals.
Washington Spirit, 2014-2016
On November 20, 2013 the Seattle Reign traded Nairn to the Washington Spirit for the discovery rights to Scottish international Kim Little. In 2014, she scored six goals and took 52 out of 76 corner kicks for the Spirit. In 2015, Nairn scored five goals and recorded two assists. In her third year with the team, the midfielder was voted Spirit MVP for her contributions to the first ever NWSL Championship appearance for the Spirit. She played every match for the Spirit in 2016, starting 18 in the regular season and both post season matches, and scored three goals. Her goal against the Houston Dash on August 18 earned her the NWSL Goal of the Week honors in Week 16. Nairn's most memorable assist of the season came in the semifinal on Francisca Ordega's game winning goal to send the Spirit to the NWSL Championship.
Melbourne Victory, 2014
In September 2014, Washington Spirit agreed to loan Nairn to Melbourne Victory for the 2014 season.
International
Nairn played for the United States U-16, U-17, U-18 and U-20 teams from 2004 to 2010. She played in all six games for the team that won the 2008 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup in Chile.
She has played twice for the United States women's national soccer team, both against Canada during summer of 2009, debuting on 25 May in Toronto in a 4–0 win, then scoring the winning goal in a 1–0 victory on July 22 in Charleston, South Carolina.
International goals
| Key (expand for notes on “international goals” and sorting) | |
|---|---|
| Location | Geographic location of the venue where the competition occurred Sorted by country name first, then by city name |
| Lineup | Start – played entire match on minute (off player) – substituted on at the minute indicated, and player was substituted off at the same time off minute (on player) – substituted off at the minute indicated, and player was substituted on at the same time |
| Min | The minute in the match the goal was scored. For list that include caps, blank indicates played in the match but did not score a goal. |
| Assist/pass | The ball was passed by the player, which assisted in scoring the goal. This column depends on the availability and source of this information. |
| penalty or pk | Goal scored on penalty-kick which was awarded due to foul by opponent. (Goals scored in penalty-shoot-out, at the end of a tied match after extra-time, are not included.) |
| Score | The match score after the goal was scored. Sorted by goal difference, then by goal scored by the player's team |
| Result | The final score. Sorted by goal difference in the match, then by goal difference in penalty-shoot-out if it is taken, followed by goal scored by the player's team in the match, then by goal scored in the penalty-shoot-out. For matches with identical final scores, match ending in extra-time without penalty-shoot-out is a tougher match, therefore precede matches that ended in regulation |
| aet | The score at the end of extra-time; the match was tied at the end of 90' regulation |
| pso | Penalty-shoot-out score shown in parenthesis; the match was tied at the end of extra-time |
| Light-purple background color – exhibition or closed door international friendly match | |
NOTE: some keys may not apply for a particular football player | |
| Goal | Date | Location | Opponent | Lineup | Min | Assist/pass | Score | Result | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2009-07-22 |  Charleston, SC |  Canada |  81' ( Lloyd) | 89 | Lauren Cheney | 1–0 | 1–0 | Friendly |